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Chapter 13





Stunned faces stared out the door and the only sounds to be heard were that of Xander when he growled and beat on the invisible barrier as he tried to get inside the house. The yellow eyes and wrinkled forehead he sported had everyone staring at him like they had never seen anyone like him before. No one moved as they all stared at him and after what seemed like an eternity the soft sound of laughter finally caught everyone's attention.



Spike looked at the others as a wide smile covered his face and he wiped at a tear that fell from his eye. His stomach hurt the longer he laughed and at Buffy's annoyed look, he closed his mouth in an attempt to stop laughing.



"What is so funny?" Buffy asked as she turned to face Spike.



"Oh come on, luv," he snickered. "You can't tell me this isn't bloody hilarious!"



"My best friend being a vampire is hilarious?"



"Of course it is," Spike said through his laughter. "The whelp there hates me and my kind with a fiery passion. Now look at him."



Everyone's attention turned back to Xander and Buffy hated to admit it but the whole situation was getting more bizarre by the minute. First Spike turns human, now Xander is a vampire. Will the night get anymore crazy?



"Anya," Xander grinned as he looked inside the house. "You weren't supposed to get away."



Anya's tears fell quickly as she stared outside and she wiped them away before straightening her shoulders. "Xander I promise you we'll fix this."



Xander laughed before taking a step back away from the door. "Don't want you to fix it."



Everyone watched as Xander turned and ran off the porch. He was out of sight before Buffy even had time to make it out the door.



"Buffy, don't!" Giles yelled as she went to follow.



"Giles we can't just let him go."



"No, but what are you going to do with him?" Giles asked her. "You can't invite him in."



"But its Xander," she said quietly. "We have to help him."



"He can't hurt anyone."



All eyes turned to Anya and she wiped the remaining tears from her face before she wiped her hands on her pants. "I think he has Spike's chip," she told them glancing over at Spike for the first time. "He tried to bite me and went all `grrr' with the head holding and screaming."



"Spike's chip? Anya, I take it you know more of what's happening than we do?" Giles asked as he looked at her.



"You could say that," Anya softly replied before giving them a nervous smile. "I kind of did a little spell."




~*~





Xander walked slowly behind a small group of teens on Main Street and a tiny smile graced his face. His eyes were trained on the petite blonde amongst them and he inhaled deeply to take in their scent as he shoved his hands into his pockets. When the group split, he chuckled at their stupidity and slowed his steps when the blonde ventured off by herself. He followed her for a short distance before quickly darting off into an alleyway. Climbing the fire escape he made his way to the top of the building and followed his victim until she turned the corner. When the city lights no longer illuminated her, he made his move and jumped down into her path. "Not very smart wandering around by yourself," he grinned as he stood in front of her. "All sorts of nasty things running around."



"Who are you?" She asked with wide, frightened eyes.



"The last thing you'll ever see."





~*~





"I swear I did it correctly," Anya cried as she retold what had happened with the spell.



"Apparently not," Giles yelled before biting his tongue and taking a deep breath to calm himself. "Maybe I haven't made myself completely clear. Magic isn't to be taken lightly. You are invoking powers you obviously have no control over."



Buffy glanced around the room and Willow and Dawn both were looking at their feet. She knew Giles' little speech was as much for them as it was for Anya. How Anya could even attempt another spell after the last one she tried failed so miserably was a mystery. Would they never learn? "Okay, this yelling isn't helping anything," Buffy said as she stood and stretched her legs while getting everyone's attention. "We now know who and what did this but my question is, why?"



Anya sniffed back her tears and looked over at Spike then back to Buffy before sitting up straight in her chair. Did she tell the real reason this happened or the short, safer version?



"Well, we're waiting, Anya?" Giles said as he prompted her to speak.



Anya sighed heavily before shaking her head slightly. If she was going to take the blame for this everything might as well be out into the open. "Okay, but no yelling," she said as she looked over at Giles. "Xander didn't believe Buffy's story about her and Spike. In fact he."



"He what?" Buffy asked feeling her heart rate accelerate as she looked at Anya fidget in her seat.



"He saw you."



"Saw me?" Buffy asked quietly as she stared at Anya.



"Yeah. He saw you and Spike. In the crypt."



Buffy felt all the air leave her lungs and the room started to spin before she slowly sat down. Everyone was looking at her and as hard as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone. What did she do now? They would know? What would they think? What would they say?



"What difference does it make?"



All eyes turned to Dawn as she stood and looked over at her sister. "It's not anyone's business who Buffy dates."



Buffy's eyes were wide as she stared at her sister and for a brief second she wanted to run. She turned her head and looked over at Spike and for the first time she could see how vulnerable he looked. This wasn't his fault. He wasn't the monster everyone thought he was. He sat there with his head down, staring at the floor and his jaw was tight. He looked ready to bolt. This was it. The moment she had dreaded from the very beginning.





~*~





Xander screamed as pained laced through his head and the growl he let out caused the blonde he had bitten to scream louder before she ran. Xander leaned against the side of the building and held his head as his unnecessary breathing increased. The pain was blinding and as tears sprang to his eyes he blinked them away before the pain started to ease up. Looking down the street, he barely caught a glimpse of his victim as she turned the corner before he straightened and wiped at his eyes. He took a deep breath trying to calm himself before he shook his head and looked around him. He was completely alone. No one roamed the streets and he turned and headed back to the apartment with questions running rampant in his mind. Every answer he came up with had Anya or Spike's name attached to them. The longer he thought about everything the madder he became. This was their fault and they'd both pay for it.





~*~





When the yelling started, Buffy closed her eyes. This is exactly what she wanted to avoid. Dawn was trying her best and it was all out in the open now. Her sister's promise to keep everything to herself came crashing down the minute the words `Spike' and `Buffy' came out of Giles' mouth in the same sentence. She sat and watched as accusations were flung around the room and when Spike stood and started for the door, Buffy stood and called out to him. "Spike! If you think I'm going to stand here and get chewed up into little pieces while you lurk outside then you're crazier than I am."



Spike turned back around and faced her and he could see the fear in her eyes. He wasn't sure what she was going to do. Having her deny everything wasn't something he felt like watching, especially seeing how it was him she would be denying, but to get beat down for being a monster was getting old. A person could only take so much of that before they were ready kill the next person who said it. When Buffy gave him a tiny smile before looking over at Giles he felt his breath catch in his throat.



"Spike and I are."



"You're what Buffy?" Giles asked when she stopped talking and looked back over at Spike.



"Well, I'm not real sure," she said with a little smile before she crossed the room and stopped in front of Spike. "But whatever it is it's between me and him, not you." Buffy gave Spike a wide smile before she turned and stared at her friends. They all looked at her and Spike and for the first time in her life she felt like she had done the right thing "I don't feel the need to justify my actions to any of you anymore and quite frankly I'm not even sure why I've been so scared for you to know. This is my life and I'm free to spend it with whomever I chose."



Spike bite the inside of his jaw. He wasn't sure if it was to keep the stupid ass grin he felt coming on at bay or the tears that burnt his eyes. He didn't think Buffy would ever admit to anyone what had been going on between them, but here she stood telling them all. When the stunned faces of everyone in the room finally caught his attention a tiny smile formed on his face.



"Now it's late and I'm tired. We can discuss this in the morning." Buffy turned and grabbed Spike's hand and led him to the stairs with shocked faces watching them go. When she pulled him up the stairs behind her Spike wondered what twilight zone he had just fallen into. This wasn't really happening. It couldn't be. When the soft click of her bedroom door rang through his head he looked down at her as she dropped his hand and walked to the window and pulled the blinds. He watched her as she fluttered around the room and he let out a long breath when she turned to look at him. "You don't have to sleep here if you don't want," she said softly as she glanced around the room. "I just didn't think leaving you down there to get eaten alive by Giles was a very girlfriend-y thing to do."



Spike smiled as he watched her before he took a couple of steps and crossed the room to where she stood. She was looking at anything but him but when he lifted his hand and ran it through her hair she laid her head down on his chest.



"Can we just sleep now?"



"Yeah, we can sleep," Spike told her as he wrapped his arms around her.



"I'm so tired."



"I know." Spike held her for what seemed like an eternity before she finally lifted her head and looked up at him. She smiled before leaning up and bushing her lips across his in a soft kiss. When she pulled back he was surprised to see tears pooling in her eyes.



"Think they'll hate me now?"



"They love you, Buffy. They could never hate you," he told her as he stared down at her. "They might not agree with you or like the things you do but they'll never hate you."



Buffy smiled in spite of her mood and sniffed back the tears ready to fall before she walked over to the bed. She kicked off her shoes and pulled the blankets back before she crawled in. She was still fully clothed and only briefly thought of changing before her head hit the pillow. When she felt the springs of the bed shift she smiled as Spike's arms found their way around her and she was pulled tight against his chest. Her eyes closed when he nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and a soft I love you was whispered against her skin. She listened to the sound of his breathing and the warm air that passed over her neck caused a contented sigh to escape her as she grabbed his arm and pulled it closer to her. With a tiny smile, she feel asleep, feeling safe for the first time in longer than she could remember.





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